Court slowdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the hundreds of arrests during the recent wave of protests in Philadelphia, are going to lead to a “tsunami” of cases the criminal justice system is going to have to deal with in the coming months, stakeholders warned Philadelphia City Council members recently in an effort to help secure funding for agencies that Mayor Jim Kenney has proposed to slash.

“We know that a tsunami of cases, a caseload like we’ve never seen before is coming,” District Attorney Larry Krasner told City Council members at a budget hearing earlier this week.